from Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal,
Ken Holland took to Zoom for an expansive, dare I say rambling press conference on Wednesday morning to discuss the demise of the 2021 version of the Edmonton Oilers he manages, and to respond to reporters’ questions as to how he plans to improve his club going forward.
65 minutes later, after many variations on the theme of “I’ve lived it, I’ve done it” and reminiscences of his long years of experience in Detroit, the two most interesting items to these ears were the two questions he answered most directly. So let’s start there.
Holland mentioned the names of his pending unrestricted free agents on a number of occasions, but was most forthcoming on the future of the oldest of them. When asked if he intended to bring back his 39-year-old netminder, he answered in a single syllable, “Yes”, and it didn’t take more than a few seconds before he made it crystal clear: “Yes I do want to re-sign Mike Smith“....
Another Oiler who was singled out by Holland in the presser was forward Devin Shore. When Stauffer asked about him specifically, Holland praised the player’s versatility, ability to play either centre or wing or to wait his turn in the press box without creating waves. Invited to camp on a Professional Tryout, Shore earned a one-year contract at NHL minimum, cleared waivers a couple of times, but became something close to a full time player down the stretch, primarily as a bottom six LW, bringing physicality and penalty killing to the mix. While his path to making the team superficially resembles that of Alex Chiasson a couple of years ago, presumably a Shore extension would come a whole lot cheaper. He is a restricted free agent for one thing, and he didn’t have a career season in the manner that Chiasson did in 2018-19....
Otherwise, Holland spoke in generalities rather than specifics, returning to some takes time and time again. His initial comment was that he is “obviously disappointed, any time you don’t win the Stanley Cup, you’re disappointed… I was proud of our guys, lots of positive steps made this year. The pain that we’re feeling today is a good thing, it means we were good enough to have aspirations to go on a playoff run.”
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